


Run away

by Llixale



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:35:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24753301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llixale/pseuds/Llixale
Summary: Is going to space to avoid the wedding of the one you love with someone else the best solution? Probably not.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Run away

**Author's Note:**

> A whole lot of nonsense, mention of Steve with someone else and a little passage with sex in it so be carefull.

The Sky Temple of the Beren planet was one of the most beautiful place Sam Wilson had ever seen in his entire life. The planet had these floating parts of lands on which the inhabitants loved to put various constructions of every reflective materials they found. They didn’t have water but a clear liquid with a shifting reflection to it reminiscing of oil.

The temple was an exquisite balance of white and black stone as well as iridescent crystals sending a rainbow of colours all around them. He couldn’t even try to hide his excitation despite this being the third and last temple they needed to visit. There was something epic, in his mind, about helping a princess on her quest. An alien princess at that, he felt like a kid while acting as the human adult he was.

The first temple, the Temple of Wisdom, had put their group in some predicament but they managed to solve all the mind games and weird puzzles expected from them. The spirit of Wisdom only appeared at the end of it to give the princess the magical mark she needed. Sam felt proud to have been of help and show that he wasn’t just good looks and a good fighter (he improved even more on that front since following Carol in her adventures), but a lot of brains too.

The second one was the Temple of Power and, two days after, Sam still felt sore about the loads and loads of minions they had to go through to reach the end of it. The fact that Nebula had loved this place shouldn’t have surprised Sam, she had a genuine love for fighting despite its grim origin. No one had been more impressed than Princess Aelen herself who grew quite fond of the blue fighter. Sam was almost certain that these two had a crush on each other since Nebula even asked him some advices on a gift for her.

The last temple signed the end of their journey here too. He could tell Aelen was a bit sadden by the knowledge that they would have to leave soon after. Something she had to talk about to allow herself inside the Temple of Light.

“ _No secrets, no running from your past, no illusions_ ”, that was the rule, so for Nebula and the Princess to walk inside, they had to talk about their feelings with honesty. Carole just walked inside without a hitch so Sam followed except that a violent wind knock him back on his ass and out of the temple.

He tried to use his left hand to get up, knowing Carole was coming closer to him but something felt wrong. When he looked at his hand, a white glowing tattoo was on it.

“ _What the hell?_ ”

“ _Your heart…You must have been cursed,_ ” Aelen explained hastily, “ _You can’t enter with a secret Sam, I told you_ ”

He scoffed well before he truly thought about it “ _I have no secret!_ ”

“ _Now is not the time for denial. This curse is lethal so you better come clean with whatever you are hiding otherwise you’ll have a few days at most before the curse takes over your whole body and you die_ ” she explained clearly.

Nebula touched her arm “ _Princess, we need to hurry. He’ll join us once he has dealt with his own darkness_ ”

Unfortunately, he knew she was right. The sooner they get the final mark, the sooner she’ll be able to help her people. Carole asked him if he was going to be okay and he nodded as he truly felt like he had no secrets he could possibly reveal concerning anyone of them. Once they had disappeared inside, he tried a bunch of thing that could come to his mind, like the time he ate his sister cookies and said it was Gideon or the time he gave Bucky hot Cheetos just to have a laugh because he knew he couldn’t handle spicy. None of it worked. In the end, the trio of women had the time to get out before he could get in.

“ _Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed Samuel_ ” Nebula taunted as he was still sitting on a floating rock.

Sam told them everything he did but at the end of it, the Princess just shook her head “ _That would not do. This isn’t about some petty misdeeds, this is about darkness in your heart just like Nebula said. See, we had to talk of our feelings so we could enter. Do you have anyone you are hiding feelings for perhaps?_ ”

The sentence hadn’t fully went out of her mouth that Sam’s face crumbled before changing to the kind of annoyance you could only reach when you truly expected something to stay buried forever. Darkness it was indeed.

“ _If I send a message, will that work?”_

The Princess laughed “You are so dense”

“ _He sometimes is_ ” Carole agreed, earning her a glare from him “ _What? You are! Go find whomever and confess Sam, this can’t possibly be worth dying for, right? At least it’s not you secretly murdering someone. It isn’t right?_ ”

Well, now he felt like throwing some kind of tantrum because he really, really, **really** didn’t want to go back to earth and say that to this person. Still, it was either that or dying and that would mess his whole vibe.

“ _Maybe you could stay here with me while he goes on his own quest?_ ” the Princess proposed Nebula who, yes, she definitely was blushing in her own blueish ways.

“ _I’ll go with him then_ ”

Carole checked the last details with Aelen and Nebula while Sam already started to walk back to their ship. He really could not believe he had been cursed but a greenish spot started to be visible on his right hand. It didn’t hurt, but he knew better than to believe he was safe.

For the next hour, the Sam got lost in his own thought and since Carole said nothing, the ship was silent beside the engines bringing a soft background sound. Some music wouldn’t have hurt but he left without his phone even.

As they got closer to their home planet however, Carole grew more curious.

“ _So…Wanna tell me who got your heart?_ ”

“ _Nope_ ”

“ _Then I’ll try to guess_ ”

“ _Carole_ ”

“ _You dragged me to see Maria before we left and begged me to take you with me, now I don’t even get that? Wow_ ”

Sam rolled his eyes but it was correct, he did drag her to see his ex-girlfriend before they left AND he definitely had to beg to be taken on the ship with her. It had been the perfect excuse at the time, so perfect in fact, he had forgotten for a little while why he did it in the first place.

They only met Nebula two weeks later getting smashed in a shady bar that served nothing a human could ingest safely. She had asked why Sam was there but soon, troubles found them and she had been happy to have a friendly pair of arms to fight with her at least, he guessed she had been happy with that. It was difficult sometime to tell with her.

“ _Okay, whatever_ ”

She smiled that very special smile she had when she won, bracing herself for a little game of deduction. The thing was, they barely knew each other before this “trip” and it wasn’t like they met anyone remotely close to who he needed to talk to.

“ _So can I narrow it down to a specific gender at least?_ ”

“ _No, you need some challenge_ ”

She made a wounded noise while running a quick inventory of what to bring back from earth once there. This trip could have more than one goal after all.

“ _Okay, okay at the very least, can you confirm that I can indeed find them?_ ”

“ _Yup_ ”

“ _Ok…The most obvious guess would be Natasha. Smart, pretty, lot of time together_ ”

With the raise of an eyebrow, he dismissed her suggestion.

“ _Okoye. If it’s her, I get why you wouldn’t tell her, she is definitely up there_ ” she said with a chuckle before catching herself “ _I mean, not that she would be too good for you but I heard she was done with men these days so… Oh_ ”

“ _It’s not her_ ”

“ _Yeah, I know_ ” she said with her eyes drilling holes in Sam’s neck.

He turned to her “ _What?_ ”

“ _Steve Rogers_ ”

“ _What about him?_ ”

She sounded sure of herself when she answered, “ _It’s him. You’re in love with him_ ”

“ _Based on what?_ ” he asked evenly, not giving anything that could confirm or deny.

“ _You know, he basically changed the direction of your life, you were glued to him for years and when you came back, these two decided to get married. Damn, if you had told me I would have left even earlier_ ”

He bit his lips almost to the point of bleeding; gave a soft smile, passed a hand on his forehead and shrugged “ _Yep, that’s pretty accurate_ ”. He tried not to glance at his other hand with the curse spreading to his forearm already. It still didn’t hurt but he had no doubt something would go wrong if it spread to his entire body.

“ _We’ll be there in a few hours. You can take a nap if you want, I got this_ ”

After a nod, he walked himself to the sleeping area and rested on the same bed he used for the last few months. Sam felt asleep fast and when he woke up, earth was visible as well as some satellites. Carole was talking with Maria through a Holo-Com since she gave her one the last time. Monica’s face popped up instead of her mother, the young woman was beaming at the idea of seeing the one she considered her second mother.

“ _Actually, it’s good that you are coming_ ” Maria said “ _There’s something we need to talk to you about_ ”

Monica looked uneasy for a second “ _Yeah_ ”

“ _Something’s wrong?_ ”

“ _Well, I wouldn’t say wrong, wrong_ ” Monica answered “ _But uh, it would be nice if you could be around soon_ ”

“ _Got it. Give me two hours_ ”

They said their goodbye and Carole asked if he was ready. Sam only needed to know Steve’s location “ _Once I know where he is, give me ten minutes and we can go see your family_ ”

“ _Ten minutes? Sam…_ ”

“ _I said what I said_ ”

She raised her hands in surrender and they headed toward New York. Sam knew he left in the worst way possible so he did everything he could to avoid calling Natasha or Barnes, in fact, anyone who would wait for him with a kick to his butt. So, they had to pass by Maria Hill who directed them to the Avengers Facility.

Sam asked Carole to stay in station above the facility and jumped from the ship with his newest suit, flying to the ground in the middle of agents living their life. Some of them blinked at him and he spotted Sharon, who jumped out of her skin when he walked behind her with a “ _Bouh_ ”. Then she punched his arm “ _What the hell, Sam?! You’re lucky I have to go right now but I swear…_ ”

“ _Sorry Sharon, I’m in a middle of something a bit urgent, do you know where’s Steve is?_ ”

“ _You did not come back after nearly a year just to talk to Steve_ ”

“ _I…kind of do. I’m sorry_ ” he sincerely said, at least looking repentant.

She pointed him to the gym and he escaped quickly while repeating how sorry he was. That altercation let him know that he had to adapt his strategy. He needed to say what he needed to say and not let the other man the occasion to be any kind of close.

He sneaked to one of the largest glass sliding doors and spotted the two super soldiers sparring. They weren’t the only one in here but hey, it was either that or he would have to see him in private and that was a no-no.

“ ** _STEVE!_** ” He shouted with the confidence of an inhibited straight white man trying to hit on a woman that asked nothing in a bar. The man turned to look at him in shock and before he could react more, he continued, “ ** _I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU MAN AND I HAVE BEEN SINCE YOU CAME TO THE VA!_** _Probably_ ”

 _“Wait..What?! Sam?!_ ”

Sam didn’t listen, he felt a gush of wind surround him and the mark on his harm was no more. Just like that.

“ _Damn it worked!_ ” he said to himself.

He waited for no one and flew away, back in the ship as fast as he could.

Carole, clearly, was waiting for him “ _Eight minutes_ ”

“ _Perfect! We can go_ ”

She was not impressed by how he was handling the situation “ _Did you just came down here, told Steve you were in love with him and fly back?_ ”

“ _Yep_ ”

“ _And that’s it?_ ”

“ _That’s it girl, let’s go see Maria_ ” Sam’s voice was more nervous than he would like to admit.

Carole wondered if she should push Sam to deal with it the same way he did for her since it worked but there was one big difference, she knew Maria loved her and it didn’t matter that time has passed and that life moved on. Steve and Sam on the other hand…

She hoped that the few hours she wanted to spend with her family would make him change his mind but the second he cloaked the ship, she knew he was trying to escape. When Maria and Monica asked what was bringing them here so randomly, Sam Wilson avoided the question with a talent she had not expected.

She had matters that were more pressing anyway, like the fact that Monica was developing powers of her own.

Sam started to relax only when they were on the way back to Beren the only problem was that something popped up on the radar, approaching fast.

“ _Uh, Sam. There’s a Chitauri ship coming right in our direction_ ”

“ _Yeah?_ ” Sam pushed a series of buttons then they did one of the accelerations this little jewel of a ship could do leaving whoever was trying to follow them in the dust “ _Problem solved_ ”

“ _I could have blast them you know?”_

“ _Every problem can’t be solve by glowing fists, Danvers_ ”

“ _Name one_ ”

They bickered until they landed on the black planet and, once again, Sam was amazed by the beautiful view the constructions offered. There was something calming about all these shiny and rainbow lights all around. Princess Aelen and Nebula were walking through what could be qualified as a garden. That was the only thing Sam founded disturbing about the planet, the flora could move and walk around. No, it wasn’t like Groot. Groot had a face and could talk, more or less.

Nebula had the same reaction as Carole, pointing the quickness of their travel. She knew she sounded displeased so she tried to balance it by saying that it was good that Sam wasn’t dead.

“ _Thank you Nebby, that’s heart-warming_ ”

“ _Nebby?_ ” she repeated in surprise.

“ _Nebby? That’s cute, just like you_ ” Aelen commented.

Just like that, they were back to their own bubble. Carole and Sam decided to let them another couple of days of peaceful bliss, Aelen having to prepare to ascending to her new duties. After three days however, they needed to move and join Thor and Valkyrie to fight an alien tyrant.

Having the Princess Aelen on their side had been a part of their plan. They needed to solidify an alliance with the surrounding planet to launch a precise attack on the enemies’ forces.

The battle itself was a thing of stamina so they only managed to invade the castle successfully by the second day’s end. Sam felt proud to catch the tyrant without being hurt badly in the process; his wings however were completely broken.

“ _You should go see Eitri, he was the one who helped me forge my dear Stormbreaker_ ” Thor proposed after the battle. He managed to look better after it than before, Sam was a bit jealous. “ _Maybe you can have wings forged in the fire of a sun!_ ”

“ _I…would die, I think_ ”

“ _Midgardians are so funny_ ” Thor laughed, giving Sam a tap on his back that almost made him fall. The battle had been long, okay?

Carole seemed thoughtful “ _Why not, I am curious to see this famous King of Dwarves_ ”

Once again, they had separated, promising to check on each other soon. An hour later, Thor was still in the process of securing the castle. Groot and Rocket were waiting for him in their own ship when someone ran to him.

“ _Thor!_ ”

He blinked and smiled in surprised “ _My friends! What are you doing here?_ ”

“ _I hate flying spaceships. There, I said it_ ” Rhodey complained, only his face visible in his suit.

“ _We are babysitting_ ” Bucky answered, only to be cut by an annoyed Steve Rogers.

“ _Hey Thor, have you seen, uh, Carole and Sam? Mainly Sam. Sam Wilson. You know? Uh, brown skin, smile with a little gap, strong, who flies…_ ”

Thor smiled even brightly “ _Yes I saw them, we fought together in this glorious battle. N’Bhi Red Eye is no more, his power had…_ ”

“ _Yeah, yeah, congratulations_ ” Steve said with urgency “ _Sorry, but, where are they?_ ”

“ _Oh, on their ways to Nidavellir. Sam’s wings are destroyed_ ”

“ _Is he okay?_ ”

Bucky lightly tapped Steve’s head “ _Can you, please, let the man talk?_ ”

Steve barely glanced in his direction, eager to have his answers.

“ _He is okay of course, glorious in battle. is there a problem?_ ”

Steve let a sound of relief, Rhodey used the man silence to explain that they needed to find Sam after his disappearance.

“ _Now that you talk about it, it is true that the Falcon wasn’t there for the ceremony_ ” Thor agreed thoughtfully.

“ _Well, we should hurry_ ” Steve pressed, already walking back to the ship “ _Do you have this place coordinates?_ ”

Thor started to explain how to reach the planet while following them to their ship. When he saw the tin can they used to come here, he laughed to their face with his booming voice, pointing how they were lucky to have survive this travel already.

“ _I can’t…Look at this!_ ”

He pointed a metal plate holding on by nothing but a single thread, then how dangerous using an old Chitauri ship was by the simple fact that everybody hated them. He was surprised they hadn’t been shot on sight already.

“ _If I punched this thing, it would break,_ ” he concluded.

“ _Did you hear that Stevie, you make us use a flying hazard. We are **lucky** to be alive_” Bucky said in a menacing tone. He followed his best friend into space because well, what Sam did had been quite perplexing, but he had no standard to what a good ship was supposed to be. He had no idea he could have died stupidly in the middle of nowhere.

“ _My suit is space-proof for a few days so…_ ”

“ _Thanks Rhodey_ ” Bucky answered with false enthusiasm.

“ _Just letting you know. I’m prepared_ ”

Thor generously proposed his…mh, no, Star-Lord’s ship, _ahem_ , to go find Carole and “mainly Sam”. Rocket and Groot wouldn’t leave before everyone agreed to tow the Chitauri ship. Rocket in particular knew he would get a nice price for such a relic. Also, he tried to steal Rhodey’s flamethrower and Bucky had been happy to see that his arm was not the victim of this racoon’s envy anymore.

*Meanwhile, on Nidavellir”

The King’s forge was nothing but popular since he created the legendary Stormbreaker, used to defeat the Mad Titan (Thor had a few songs about him and his weapon). What had been basically destroyed was now glorious to witness, if you could bare the noise that is.

If Carole managed to get them a quick audience with one of the King trusted blacksmith by mentioning Thor, they started to wonder if they had made the right choice when Brimt, the shady looking blacksmith pretended not to understand that Sam would not be able to support fire wings attached to his spinal cord. After showing them an array of already made exoskeletons and managing to sold Nebula three different weapons, he decided to change his approach.

“ _Okay, I think we need to go see Old Nana, obviously, you are a difficult client_ ”

“ _I really don’t think not wanting to be cut open to install wings is me being difficult_ ” Sam retorted with his eyes wide open.

“ _Admit it Sam, you are two seconds away from calling his manager_ ” Carole said while trying not to laugh.

“ _Maybe I should get wings_ ” Nebula mumbled next to them, her arms already full but still seriously contemplating the option. The other two knew how serious she could become so they quickly accepted the offer to meet whoever was that Old Nana.

The dwarves transport system was quick but frightening since nothing seemed to prevent the shuttle from falling out of the rails and into a ravine. Sam wouldn’t admit to have grabbed Nebula on one particular sharp turn but she gave him a knowing look even if she did the same with Carole herself. Brimt was unbothered, leading them all in a city all in curves and polished materials with half of it under the surface. The absence of colours, especially, caught Sam eyes as all he saw was two shades of brown and black at most.

Eventually, they arrived in front of what has to be a house even if it looks more like a giant rocky snail, from Sam’s point of view. After Brimt knocked, another one of these giant dwarfs left them inside, a woman with the shiniest baldhead Sam ever witnessed, and even Okoye would be impressed.

“ _Hello Carlota, we’re here to see Nana, is she here?_ ”

“ _Brimt_ ” she said with a pause and a dramati look that could only come from some shared history “ _Just a second_ ”

Brimt took his hat off, tried to replace a hair strand behind his ear as if he wanted to appear a bit less dishevelled.

Carlota the dwarf came back with a woman that had eyes all around her head. Only one of them opened at a time and it was entirely white. She was taller than a human but way less than the giant dwarves, had four arms and her skin was a dark green. Sam couldn’t tell what in her was supposed to project “Old” but he wasn’t about to ask.

“ _Brimt, Brimt, Brimt_ ” she said with the exact same dramatic pose as Carlota “ _Here for another lesson? You escaped rather quickly last time_ ”

The giant blushed heavily, his face almost red “ _No, I’m here for business. This Terranian need wings, not the kind that goes inside, unfortunately_ ”

“ _Not even a little bit?_ ” Carlota asked, probing Brimt to shake his head with disappointment.

After being introduced, Sam gave some specifics about what he wanted and what he didn’t want. Carlota had to look for an old book, apparently listing thing “Terranians” could or couldn’t work with. Old Nana navigated it quickly.

“ _I have the perfect thing for you, if you manage to get your hands on these things…_ ”

Sam had no idea what any of this was and what exactly the end result was supposed to be. The blacksmith was positively beaming and Old Nana talked about it as if it would be her masterpiece. Also, Sam personally had to kill what looked like a dragon, part of it for the wings, the other one for payment. This looked like fun.

*Back to the forge*

“ _You have to be kidding me!_ ” Steve exclaimed whilehe looked at Thor following the King for dinner. Hadn’t he expressed the appropriate sense of urgency earlier when he said “ _We have to find Sam as soon as possible!_ ”? Because what happened was that the King kind of brushed it off after explaining that yes, Sam and two women were here a few hours ago. An information less pressing apparently, that catching up with Thor, and Thor liked nothing more than a party.

“ _They’ll have to come back here since they left with one of the dwarves_ ” Bucky proposed.

Steve didn’t want to eat and drink, he wanted to find Sam. 

“ _Do you even know what you are going to tell him when you find him, pal?_ ”

Without stopping and walking to the next zone with parked ships, looking for the one belonging to Carole, Steve answered negatively, seeing apparently no problems with that.

It wasn’t the first time Bucky tried to brush the topic but so far, Steve always gave the same non-answer. On the other side, Bucky had some words of choice for Samuel Thomas Wilson on his own about what he did not only with that confession, but with the message he sent Bucky right as the wedding ceremony started all this time ago.

He thought they had reached some kind of tentative friendship but nowhere near the “ _You’re the only one I will tell I’ll fuck off to space and not going to this wedding_ ” type of friendship. Yeah, he wanted to find Sam too and have a little chat about that.

After three days of waiting, Steve couldn’t take it anymore. Neither Thor, Rhodey or Bucky were able to keep him still for long so when they got called by the King himself in the forge to help him on a little quest, something they should complete in an hour or so, the three men were relieved, despite Steve not wanting to leave as to not miss Sam. They had found Carol’s ship and if it wasn’t for Bucky, he would have slept right under it.

“ _If they came back in the meantime, I’ll keep them here, Steve from earth, you have my word_ ” The King said, snapping his fingers to call an orange skinned woman who fell from the ceiling on her feet without making any kind of sound. “ _Lucienda, could you please bring the other humans here once they are back? Brimt left with them_ ”

“ _Of course your Highness_ ”

She turned on her heals, determination on her features as if the mission was of the highest importance (it was for Steve indeed), and walked to the door, disappearing into a hallway only to be back ten seconds later, Brimt right behind, **alone**.

“ _Brimt? When did you came back? Where are the others?_ ”

“ _Your excellency? You mean the human who wants to fly, the glowing one and the weird looking Kree or something?_ ”

“ _Yes!_ ” Steve answered with force, jumping in from of the giant dwarf, which made him blink ad take a short step back.

“ _Well, I’ve just send them away. Look at that Diamant du Matin they payed?! So shiny_ ” he showed an almost blinding diamond-like rock, unaware of the three humans escaping the room as fast as they could.

Steve saw the ship in the dark sky accelerate until it disappeared.

Rhodey gave Bucky a look and tried to push him toward Steve, Bucky did the same but lost.

“ _Hey, Stevie…_ ” he started, his voice small and cautious.

“ _Avengers, Assemble!_ ”

Steve started running toward their own ship, of course not near where they currently were, over the sound of Rhodey and his “ _I would hardly call this shit a reason to call the Avengers man_ ”

“ _At least we put the tracker it_ ” Bucky remembered, “ _I get the trajectory, seems like they are going on X-A-235_ ”

“ _Do you mean the Beren planet?_ ” Rocket asked, suddenly much more interested in everything. They always did their own thing with Groot. “ _Well, we will have a problem then_ ”

Steve was in no mood to hear why, which didn’t stop the others to talk.

Groot said something that made Rocket laugh and Thor cough “ _I didn’t purposely break her crown!_ ” he corrected, “ _I simply stepped on it. If it had been just a little more well made…_ ”

Now, Thor was a God and an Asgardian at that, a simple human should not make him squirm but since they discovered that Steve was “worthy”, they also learned that he had the ability to indirectly tap into Mjolnir’s (a new one) powers when he got frustrated around it, which was dangerous when you were in a ship, in space.

Steve was pissed.

A few days later

“ _My Queen, there’s three humans, one Asgardian, a talking tree and a talking…something that are asking an audience with you, they say they know of Lady Nebula, Lady Carole and Sir Samuel_ ”

Queen Aelen, because now she was Queen, was taking a relaxing bath in company of said Lady Nebula. Way too preoccupied by marvelling of the view of her partner in the middle of all these colourful bubbles, it took her some time to find the will to get out of it and ask what this was about. Maybe if Nebula wasn’t sucking on her neck like that, they would have been quicker but she seemed unbothered by the visitors.

Perplexity covered her face when she saw the bunch, covered in _palentuna_ sap. A common mistake from people who didn’t knew better and tried to reach the castle without taking the main road.

Nebula appeared near her and she was now annoyed.

“ _Is that a way to appear in front of a Queen? Hello Rhodey_ ”

“ _Hi Neb’, you look good. Your majesty, you are positively glowing_ ”

Bucky was standing behind Steve and had resorted to dig his metals fingers in Steve’s arms to shut him up.

“ _What are you all doing here? If you steal even a cushion, I will make a hat out of you_ ” Nebula warned Rocket who pretended to be offended but really wanted to take that shinny cup on the table, and the chair, and the whole table in fact.

“ _We are looking for Carole and Sam, we have been for a while now, we followed you here. By the way, could you destroy the tracker on Carole’s ship? It would be nice_ ”

The Queen, unphased by the previous exchange asked why they were looking for the pair of heroes so Rhodey answered.

“ _Sam disappeared months ago without exactly warning us, and then one day he just…uh…confess, I guess, to this one_ ” he pointed at Steve “ _but then he left again so, that’s annoying_ ”

The Queen took a moment to think before lighting up “ _Oh, the curse! You were the secret he was having. This is so romantic_ ”

Steve, who has been silent until now couldn’t keep from asking “ _Excuse me but, what do you mean? Do you know why he came one day just…saying that…he…_ ”

“ _Well, to understand what happened, we need to start with my birth and what it means to be Queen here on this beautiful planet_ ” she started.

It took a full hour for her to mention Carole, Nebula and Sam then twenty minutes more to get to the trial that resulted in Sam being cursed and avoiding death only by “Saying the truth”. She continued with the end of the trials and her coronation.

“… _the last time we saw them was when I offered Carole her new ship, isn’t that right Nebula?_ ”

“ _It’s exact my Queen_ ”

“ _I told you not to call me that_ ” she chuckled, giving a light tap, or maybe it was a caress, to Nebula’s shoulder.

Rhodey ‘s eyes were threatening to jump out of his skull while Bucky coughed in his coat to avoid a laugh.

“ _What was that?_ ” Nebula asked, hearing something from Steve without understanding what it was.

“ _I’m going to kill him,_ ” he repeated, turning away to go back to their ship “ ** _AVENGERS…._** ”

“ _Not again_ ” Rhodey complained, already seeing Bucky jog to follow. “ _Nebula, call me later right? I want to know everything about this_ ”

Nebula pretended she didn’t knew what he was talking about while already wondering how she was supposed to be able to reach the Avengers compound from here. Maybe she would contact her sister too, it has been a while after all.

Steve was not a good plane pilot and he was not a good spaceship pilot either but no one would dare take the seat from him even if they were all fearing for their life.

“ _Stupid….How dares he….curse! CuRSe?...I can’t believe…Idiot Sam…Peggy was right…I can not believe…the audacity_ ” was the kind of thing he was muttering in his beard all along, starting to look more and more like a madman, even Rocket decided to stay next to the pods just in case.

“ _I am Groot_ ”

“ _What do you mean Thor isn’t here?”_

“ _I am Groot!”_

“ _Guys, we forgot…nevermind_ ” Rocket shut up the second he saw Steve look at him as if he was about to come after him.

(Thor, in fact, was still on the Beren planet)

*On Earth*

Sam was grounded. Sort of. “ _No more space adventures for you! You need to see your friends and your family_ ” Was what Carole had said before shooing him out of her new ship in the middle of Harlem. Of course, people were gawking at the black man coming out of a spaceship as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Some of them did recognize Sam Wilson and, since he had been involved with the Avengers and qualified as a terrorist, (which no one believed here anyway), were already used to his antics. So, Sam started his tour by doing what any black man travelling through space for months would do and went to his favourite barber.

Fresh and clean, with his large duffle bag on his back, he went to his mother (his aunties were there too) which led to the most dramatic scene of his mother pretending to die and not being able to see her youngest son, her sisters way too happy to entertain the whole guilt trip.

“ _You didn’t call, you didn’t let a message_ ”

“ _I know, I know, I was in a hurry_ ”

“ _Of what? What was important enough to leave this planet without warning your poor mother?_ ”

He had no answer to that. None that she would understand right now anyway.

“ _I brought you a souvenir?”_ he proposed instead; showing her the beautiful Beren crystal. He would need at least that to be allowed to crash here for two or three days.

After his mother, he went to some of his friends, Luke Cage and Misty Knight, ending up working on a drug dealer case with them. He complained about not being able to spent one day on this planet without being involved in some shenanigans which they couldn’t exactly deny.

His new wings, a perfect blend of bio and magnetic energy allowed him to end the mission with a few winkles on his clothes and nothing else.

“ _Seems like some people were missing you_ ” Misty said once the police had apprehended the man running the cartel. She showed him her phone, their exploit already relayed on Twitter with the tag #FalconIsBack.

“ _Yeah I better go, my mom is going to kill me again_ ”

“ _Yeah yeah, but let’s have a drink first, shall we?_ ”

Who was Sam to deny Misty Knight one drink?

Turns out, Misty and Luke had a whole team on their own. The pair introduced him to Coleen Wing and Danny Rand. Sam would not ask any question but the four of them had a really weird dynamic. Like, unresolved sexual tension kind of weird. This sure added some fun into it. Also, the guy called himself the Iron fist and after Sam witnessed his glowing hands, he just felt like it was time to go to bed, he was coming for Carole’s gig.

It was late enough for his mom to be asleep already by the time he made it home. To walk in silently and sneak on the second floor felt nostalgic. From there, he had a stop in the bathroom for a quick shower before finally made it to what has been his bed all these years ago. It was too soft and he hated it after he came back from his tour but it was comforting to be in it anyway. He felt safe and content enough to fall in a deep sleep.

This morning, they had the early visit of his sister as well as his brother and his kid.

“ _Look who is still alive!_ ” Gideon said, looking at Sam with a cocky smile.

Shorter than his little brother, they didn’t look a like a lot. Gideon was a copy of their lightskin maternal grandfather while Sarah and Sam took more on their paternal side. He put his five-year-old son Emery in Sam’s arms while he walked inside to kiss their mom.

Sarah arrived a few minutes earlier and was deep in all the stories Sam missed. She sure loved a good gossip and had a talent to make any story vivid and hilarious. Harlem, like the rest of the world, really became a place where the weirdest things happened. It did not surprised Sam one ounce to hear that the whole Misty and Luke “team” were regularly involved in most of said weirdest things.

“ _I heard this Danny boy kissed Luke at Pop’s one time in front of Jamal and that’s why he fucked up Harry, remember Harry Hanson? Yeah, he fucked up his dear fro_ ’”

“ _He can’t possibily have that afro still to this day_ ”

“ _Well, not anymore, he had a huge hole in it and had to do a big chop_ ”

Sam laughed in his bacon and eggs, not even paying attention to the doorbell sound. He was barely calm enough to bring the fork to his mouth when he felt the annoying sensation of being looked at.

Behind him, from the open kitchen door, his mom was throwing daggers in his direction. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the people he could see right behind her. He could make Luke, Misty, and, good God, please tell him he was hallucinating Thor’s beaming smile behind them. He was pretty sure Carole was here too.

“ _Samuel_ ,” his mother started “ _Please explain to me why all these people are looking for you_ ”

Gideon grabbed his son and sat at the table, pouring orange juice in two glasses for them. Sarah let out a mouth sound that could also mean, “ _RIP in pieces brother_ ”

Darlene moved out of the way and more people than what Sam had initially saw flooded the room.

“ _Nice shirt Sam_ ” Carole teased

“ _You didn’t show us the goodies last night Wilson_ ” Misty said right after, at ease here because Luke and her already knew his family. Besides, Sam wasn’t ashamed of his new tank top even if it was a bit nipple to the wind.

Next to them, Colleen and Danny, then Carole, Thor, Monica, freaking Tony Stark, Nebula, Bucky and Steve.

It felt dumb that his first question was to Nebula of all people “ _What are you doing here?_ ”

“ _These dummies went on Beren to find you and forgot that one_ ” she pointed to Thor “ _So I’m bringing him back_ ”

“ _Looking for me? Why are you looking for me? We saw each other yesterday!_ ” Sam asked to Misty and Luke but they scoffed.

“ _Not us, Cap over there_ ”

“ _Sam_ ”

Ah. Yes. Steve Rogers. In his impossibly tight white shirt, combed like a church boy and looking more annoyed than anything. The way he pronounced Sam’s name almost made him square off on principle.

Someone, probably Bucky, pushed Steve so that he was near the chair on Sam’s left, which was only available because his mom wasn’t on it. Sam shook his dead as a warning but Steve still sat his ass on it.

“ _Disrespectful_ ” Sam let out, which was apparently all Steve needed to start the conversation.

“ _Do you know what disrespectful is, Sam?”_ He started, letting Sam knew right here and then that he had fucked up _“_ _You deciding to disappear the day of my marriage with only a message to Bucky_ ”

“ _Be happy, we didn’t get nothing_ ” Gideon scoffed again before stopping when Sarah hit him in the shoulder.

“ _What is disrespectful_ ” Steve continued “ _is you disappearing for months and only coming back to drop your little bomb before escaping so fast I couldn’t catch you_ ”

“ _What bomb is he talking about?_ ” Darlene asked and Bucky answered, wondering too late if Sam was out to his sister and brother. His mom, he was almost certain that she already knew, Sam told him as much “ _That he loves Steve_ ” Darlene brought her hand to her mouth and Sarah was salivating at the juiciest gossip of it all.

“ _What is disrespectful_ ” Steve had his full Captain voice now “ _is me having to go in space to find you and you always managing to be somewhere else. I ended up on Beren learning that the only reason you came back was because you had to otherwise, you would be dead!_ ”

“ _I told you, Sam_ ” Carole commented at that and he quickly glanced at her before looking back at Steve.

“ _Why are you all here?_ ” Sam asked the crowd.

The answers could be summarized by “ _I was dragged here_ ” or “ _I am noisy and I want to know_ ” which was fair he supposed. He whipped his mouth and rinsed everything with some coffee.

“ _I am sorry_ ” Sam had every intention to only say this but visibly, everyone, including Steve, was waiting for more. What was he supposed to say? “ _I understand me confessing my feelings was not pleasing and I assure you, it wasn’t some weird attempt to get your attention or something else. It was my own negligence for being cursed in the first place_ ”

Sam himself was satisfied with the extended apology and hoped Steve was too but the other man seemed to have bugged.

“ _Sam…this is so much more than that. You left. I got you back from being dead and you left_ ”

“ _Well, to be fair, I was brought back in another battle five years in the future and the blood wasn’t even dry yet that Tony popped up a ring to propose. I just…wasn’t ready. Come on, you can’t expect a guy who have feelings for you to show up and cheer at your wedding_ ”

“ _But I didn’t know that! I had no idea you felt that way because you said jack shit. Never. So when? When did you woke up and told yourself, oh, maybe I like him?_ ”

The plate was now empty and Sam felt quite attacked “ _Okay, the show is over_ ”

A very vocal vague of protestation assaulted Sam and all these noisy people (including his own friends and family) started to get on his last nerves. His feet started to become restless, taping quickly against his chair and he had to keep his eyes on the table until he could cool down again.

“ _Steve_ ” he tried when it was becoming clear that the rest of them would stay right here “ _Your husband is right there_ ” He pointed at Tony with a head movement “ _Why are you asking me all this stuff?_ ”

One and two, two seconds of silence before the assistance erupted in different kind of reaction from eyes rolling, to face palming, laughing and even cursing Sam. His eyes went back to Steve in confusion only to see the man blink slowly before lifting his eyes to the ceiling and grabbing the table as an anchor.

“ _Tony is not my husband_ ”

“ _You already divorced? Damn_ ”

“ _He never was my husband, Samuel_ ” Steve explained with extra strength and articulation. For all he cared about Sam, he was getting on the end of his patience.

Sam did felt like an idiot “ _You two never got married?_ ” he repeated, just to be sure even if it make everyone judge him and call him dumb.

“ _We realized a bit too late that this wasn’t what we wanted actually,_ ” Tony offered to give Sam more context since he wasn’t there and nobody told him, visibly.

The answer came in form of a nod and a soft contemplative “ _mmmh_ ”. Sam had to fight the smile creeping up his face so he grabbed his plate and started to walk to the sink so he could wash it. Oh, the jubilation that was filling his heart. It was so petty, so, so petty to be happy that two people didn’t get married, he should be ashamed of himself, and he was, but also, damn if he didn’t want to dance and scream like this was the best news of his life.

“ _I am…sorry to hear that_ ” he lied with the power of pettiness and spy training behind his words to hide his happiness.

There was a movement behind him but he stood still as a body came dangerously close to his back, the presence heavy and yet, so inviting. His whole body shivered when Steve asked, with his lips almost on Sam’s ear “ _Are you?_ ”

Sam put the plate away, turning to face the blond man and revealing a blinding smile. Next to beatitude in the dictionary, you would put Sam’s face now, that’s how full of joy he was right now and Steve didn’t miss any of it.

“ _Sorry_ ” he laughed, trying to stop his giggle and put on a serious face. Lord, did he failed on that count “ _I hope there wasn’t too much waste from the attempted wedding. It’s a tragedy, you know. I bet the cake would have been nice_ ”

Steve had his two eyes on him “ _You’re so full of shit Wilson. Sorry Miss Wilson_ ”

“ _No offense, he truly is_ ”

“ _Well,_ “ Sam continued “ _Thanks for the information. It’s, uh, sad, for you two. But I guess, a good thing, for you two also…oh my God, let me stop with this, I can’t_ ” he said before laughing his whole heart out and tapping Steve’s shoulder like he just said the best joke in the whole world, the other man was still crowding eighty percent of his visual space.

“ _You seems real sad_ ” Steve commented with so much sarcasm, Sam had to put a hand on his own mouth to try to stop his bubbly laugh from getting out again.

“ _It’s a tragedy, really_ ”

“ _Yeah, yeah, we got it, you are literally glowing right now Sam_ ” Carole cut, beginning to be annoyed at Sam’s antics. “ _So what now?_ ”

“ _Now it’s up to Sam_ ” Steve answered, his eyes deep into these of the man he chased, the faintest lick of his lips, so quick Sam could have imagined it. His strong arms were still preventing him from leaving, which was not the kind of personal space intrusion that screamed “friend” in his humble opinion.

In fact, Sam smile vanished when his mind came to that conclusion. He did not want to have any kind of hope, feeling that he was reading into this all wrong, as usual. His salvation came in the form of Scott Lang coming inside the house.

“ _Sam? Sam Wilson? It’s Scott Lang! There was some…oh…Hey guys, what are you all doing here? I was notified that a large group of Avengers came here. You are attracting quite the crowd outside, you know that?_ ”

“ _Can you resolve this soon? I’m hungry and I’m dreaming of what I think you call barbe a queue chicken,_ ” Thor pressed, his belly protesting right on time.

Misty nodded “ _I agree with Thunder Bae, I need to eat_ ”

Tony clapped his hand, earning him everyone’s attention beside Steve and Sam “ _What if I delivered some food from local restaurant? We could go to a park or…_ ”

“ _My yard ain’t good enough for you all?_ ” Darlene asked, knowing exactly what she was doing “ _You came here uninvited and know you want to go make a party without even inviting us?_ ”

Gideon, shameless as always added, “ _Mama, you know how it is, we ain’t good enough for them_ ”

Their combined fake outrage quickly made everyone fall in line, acting as if the president himself had been offended. Even Steve had to let Sam go and the man escaped with maestria to the bathroom of the second floor.

From there, he proceeded to make himself presentable and took another shower. Was he surprised to see Steve sitting right in front of the bathroom door? No. Was Steve surprised to see Sam in nothing but a towel? Yes.

“ _S-Sorry…I thought…_ ”

“ _What? That I was escaping again?_ ”

“ _This isn’t remotely funny Sam_ ”

Steve had to turn to give him at least the illusion of privacy instead of waiting outside. All he has was the sound of Sam looking through his bag and his closet to find something to put on. When he heard Sam sit on the bed, he carefully turned to look at the other man in a white tank top and a baggy black jean. Steve saw some pictures of end-of-highscool-Sam and if he shaved totally and added one of those hair scarfs, it would totally be it.

“ _I feel like shit_ ” Sam actually started unprompted “ _You just came into my mama’s house with a whole lot of people to tell me that you’ve been looking for me, all of this because I wanted to avoid a marriage that didn’t even occurred. It’s a lot_ ”

With some hesitance, Steve sat close to Sam. He did miss the other man’s presence next to him and decided to indulge in it “ _I wish you would have told me without being forced to. That you had said something, anything…_ ”

“ _But I didn’t, Steve. When was I supposed to confess my feelings? Before or after we had to protect the country? The world? Hell, maybe the universe?_ ”

And Sam did felt sorry, but he couldn’t change the past. Fly right into a giant alien to kick his butt felt way easier than being here, if only because he had no intention examining his feelings in the first place. Why Steve couldn’t see that? Instead, he looked quite disappointed, getting up to walk to the door. Without tuning again to Sam he asked if he was about to leave again. The question felt loaded.

“ _I don’t know_ ” was the only answer he could give now, he knew Steve enough to feel his disappointment even with his back to him

Downstairs, the house became nothing short than a whole neighbourhood party, people’s curiosity leading to some questions, small talks and full on music on the streets and the smell of delicious food all around. The Avengers and vigilante adjacent had a lot of enemies but some friends and supporters too. Sam had no illusions that their approval rate was not all that high and someone like Nebula, a full on alien looking woman or Tony Stark and Danny Rand, rich enough to eliminate poverty in Harlem without actually doing it, could be a lot. Maybe in a way, Luke and Misty’s presence made people think that they were “cool”, at least for now.

The more time passed, the more uneasy Sam felt. He caught Steve’s disappointed eyes on him more than once but was there more to say? Probably not.

The sun was setting down when the house finally emptied and the last guests had helped them cleaning. Even with many neighbours leaving with Tupperware, Darlene’s fridge was more than full.

“ _Soooo, that was hella awkward_ ,” Sarah said, falling in the old couch with a thump. “ _Not for me, I loved it, but for you_ ”

Good thing Gideon was already gone. Sarah liked to tease him but at least she really wanted to talk.

“ _Am I tripping? If you were in love would someone, would you have gone to their wedding?_ ”

“ _Hell no_ ”

Darlene came into the living room too, a mug of tea in hand “ _You know, something like this happened to me. Well, not exactly, but at our wedding with your father, there was three women who had tried to court him as we started to date. He had eyes only for me so I was laughing the entire time; I have no idea why they were here_ ”

“ _Thank you! Seems like the respectful thing would be not to go_ ” Sam agreed.

“ _Unless…_ ” Sarah started, crossing her leg and giving him a suggestive look.

Sam was quick to pick on her insinuation, and cut them short “ _Nah. When we talked upstairs, he basically just said that I disappointed him_ ”

“ _Maybe your sister’s right. All of that just to say that he mad? No, I think he is hurting. He didn’t even know you got feelings for him back then, I bet he is angry_ ”

Darlene’s words echoed in Sam’s mind like an annoying fly around his food until the next day. It did not take a genius to figuring out that, Steve probably missed his friend that acted very un-friendly.

Even knowing this, Sam was at loss for what he should actually do but he guessed he needed to start by getting a job.

Maria Hill looked positively perplexed by Sam’s request “ _Actually, going into space does not prevent you from staying an Avenge, at all. And I’m not the team’s secretary so do as you please?_ ” With that, she ended the transmission and her holographic face disappeared.

“ _That was embarrassing, sort of_ ”, Mario at the reception said. “ _But less than when you screamed your love for Captain America at the top of your lungs. Romantic, but really embarrassing_ ”

Sam did not know this guy besides his name and his comment wasn’t asked for. People were feeling noisy and bold these days it seemed. After registering, he started to walk to the place that has been attributed to him. He was lost in his thoughts when the elevator opened and Steve stepped out of it, stopping when Sam noticed.

“ _Hey, Steve_ ”

Steve frowned “ _What are you doing here? Are you looking for someone?_ ”

“ _Oh, no, I’m, uh, you know, staying here_ ”

“ _Is that so?_ ”

It wasn’t surprising that Steve would not make it easy for Sam but the other man was here to make some kind of peace with him so this was, in fact, perfect “ _Wanna help me unpack?_ ” he asked, shaking his only large bag.

“ _Maybe you can call Carole or Nebula to help you with that_ ”

“ _Wow Rogers, you really are milking this gruge uh?_ ”

“ _You hurt me, Sam_ ” Steve said without any hint of banter “ _So welcome back, but don’t act as if this was nothing_ ”

With that, he left and let Sam there, his jaw tight and his heart a bit heavier. This time however, Sam couldn’t let it go. As hypocritical as he would sound, he turned to catch up to Steve, only to see Mario give him an amused look.

“ _I know you are mad, I get it, and the way I reacted the other day made you believed that I’m not taking this seriously_ ” Sam started, getting Steve to cross his arms once again and let him talk “ _I am sorry for leaving and I’m sorry for not telling you sooner about how I felt. I thought there was no point_ ”

“ ** _No point?_** ”

“ _That came out wrong_ ”

“ _I saw you being more eloquent after two days without sleeping, Sam_ ” Steve said, walking out of the building with his friend on his tail. At least now they had some privacy.

“ _Okay, Steve, you have to stop. I do not owe you my feelings. Yes, I told you because I was going to die otherwise. Have you never been in love with someone without telling them?_ ”

Steve just glared for only answer so Sam continued, “ _That’s what I thought. And I told you, I was jealous. I was mad, lost and one again, jealous as hell. I didn’t want to smile and cheer at you being with Stark. I wanted to tell you Steve. I really wanted to, but before I got the courage, you said yes to Tony. I never pictured you for someone who would want to be with someone like him_ ”

His tone was almost questioning in the end, less rushed. This was something he did not know how to feel about. Sam just assumed that Steve was in love with Barnes and would get with him now that they both were in a time that offered a bit more freedom on that aspect. If not, maybe with Sharon since they had a moment, but Tony? Well, that was a shock for sure.

“ _These five years…it’s been complicated_ ”

“ _I mean, who doesn’t like a good enemy to lover right?_ ” Sam tried to joke, falling flat and looking even more confused with himself. Why was he acting like that?

Steve bit his lips, hands on his hips now “ _When he came back from space, things got bad between him and Pepper and we both had some guilt we needed to work through. I think…I guess we got together for the wrong reasons. When he proposed, we were so happy to be alive, to have won, and then the euphoria disappeared and we knew it wouldn’t be good for us to get married_ ”

The chance to know more about their relationship was too good to pass and they end up talking about Steve and Tony’s relationship for a while.

It allowed Sam to understand better Steve’s mind-set that led him into the arm of the man he never even been friend with before. How did you reconcile the fact that the man you decided to date tried to kill your best friend and had you imprisoned in an underwater prison without trial? Yes, Sam could believe that Tony had repressed feelings toward Steve but nothing beyond “I may want to fuck him” , a relationship more based on sex than “feelings” if you will.

“ _Were you happy with him?_ ” Sam asked without judgement, truly wondering how Steve perceived his relationship.

Still, the question was heavy and Sam knew his choice of words were important. It didn’t prevent Steve to interpret it in the worse way possible.

“ _You know this wasn’t a choice between you and him, right?_ ”

“ _Who said that?_ ”

Steve laughed bitterly, his back against the wall “ _You don’t need to_ ”

Sam had to correct him because he was getting the wrong idea and there was a time they would never have this kind of misunderstanding “ _No. I am not asking why him and not me. You don’t have to like me back, I never asked for that Steve, never_ ”

“ _Yeah, you never asked me anything…_ ”

“ _Oh wow, I can’t believe you, YOU never implied that you could be interested in me. Why are we even arguing right now? Why would I try to seduce my fucking best friend, risk to ruin everything to hear “Oh Sam, I’m sorry, I don’t see you like that”?_ ”

Steve seemed offended at that for some reasons “ _I wouldn’t have said that!_ ”

“ _Yeah?_ ” Sam scoffed half mocking Steve half frustrated at the way they seemed to have lost any good ability to communicate “ _Okay Rogers, since you want to act like I’m in the wrong, I, Sam Wilson officially asks you, Steve Rogers, on a date tonight. I’m talking about a movie and diner, you and me, let’s say fuck to our friendship_ ”

It sounded much more sarcastic and borderline challenging than he did intended to, but Steve needed to stop doing the most as if Sam betrayed him somehow. Yes, he left and that was not the best way to handle things but he was allowed to make some less than stellar decisions from time to time.

“ _Fine, let’s meet here at seven tonight then_ ”

“ _Fine!_ ”

“ _Fine_ ”

Steve pushed past Sam, walking with determination to his bike before riding beyond the Avengers facility domain. Once Steve was out of sight, Sam blinked, cursing the man in his head. Has he even heard anything than he said? He invited him on a romantic date, why did he accepted? What was not clicking?

He wanted to vent to someone but he knew everyone else would think he was crazy so instead, he used his energy and frustration to finish his installation, do a quick training session and pretend he wasn’t preparing this fake date. Well, maybe fake wasn’t the right term, but it definitely wasn’t a “real” date. Not that Sam didn’t want a date, but Steve was just an asshole so he needed to teach him a lesson.

Seven came up a bit too fast to Sam’s taste but he was ready. With his black vest, oversize black long sleeve tee shirt (transparent enough to see his skin through it despite the fabric being a bit thick), skinny blue jean, lord knows he hated skinny jeans on him, and hazelnut boots, he felt confident. That was without counting on Steve’s petty ass who decided to have one of his whitest, skinniest tee shirt, black aviator jacket and matching pants that seemed to mysteriously give him an ass. They really stood there for a full minute, analysing each other with barely concealed smirk.

“ _Shall we?_ ” Steve’s face and his famous shit eating grin was making Sam’s pressure rise up.

“ _Yes, let’s take a car_ ”

“ _No, give me the address, we’ll take my bike_ ”

“ _Oh, so that’s how it is?_ ” Sam said with a scoff, not even hiding his genuine amusement.

“ _That’s how it is. Let’s go_ ”

When Steve told him to hang on tighter than what Sam was doing, he rolled his eyes and was sure Steve saw it since he caught the blonde’s amused smile once again. Despite the speed, Sam could smell whatever cologne he put, something like tobacco, whiskey and vanilla. He really was playing dirty, the clothes, the bike, the cologne, what was Steve trying to do exactly?

The movie was…something. Sam intentionally choose a musical, thinking Steve would hate it. It was about a duo of cops in the late seventies trying to take down a drug lord while belting high notes with the power of chest hair, sparkles, stupid guns and not so subtle homoerotism. As ridiculous as the movie was, it also was genuinely funny and Sam could not peeled his eyes from the dance/fight scenes. The only thing distracting him was Steve’s laughs next to him that he tried to hide behind his hands, but since Steve laughed with his whole upper body, it was a good thing there wasn’t a lot of people in this theatre.

“ _This was the most amazing movie I have ever seen_ ” Steve commented in wonder as they exited the building, he started to sing “ _Let’s booooogie…_ ”

Feeling in the mood to humor him, Sam stopped as well “ _Let’s dance_ ”

Then together, ignoring the amused or perplexed look of some other bystanders “ _Two funky cops and we get him nowwwww_ ” before laughing on their way out.

“ _Okay but, Ace was looking a lot like Fury, right?_ ” Sam asked.

“ _Oh? Ooooh! You’re right! Oh my god, yes! Fury with an afro! Fury with…_ ” Steve was wheezing so much he had to walk away from Sam before coming back.

“ _We should totally offer him a wig for his birthday_ ” Sam proposed.

“ _He’ll kill us, let’s do it!_ ”

The laugh died a little, both realizing that the earlier weird mood was just a bad memory now thanks to the great moment they just had. It always had been easy when it was just the two of them. Even during missions, even when they were running after Bucky, they didn’t fight a lot. They always managed to go back mysteriously to this comfortable place between them and, damn, Sam missed it. That was the thing with pain; it was easy to let it overtake everything. Less than two hours ago, Sam has been salty and here to prove a point, forgetting that Steve and him never were able to stay mad at each other for long anyway. It didn’t mean that Sam believed that the other man forgave him for leaving.

The second step in this “date” was eating. Once again, Sam sat behind Steve and this time, automatically locked his arms around Steve’s middle. He did perceived a second of hesitation from his friend and was ready to put some distance but he felt more than he saw a hand above his arm so his grip could be even tighter. Sam blocked the feeling that was threatening to make him act a bit too comfortable as if he could touch Steve in the secrets ways he had wanted for so long. Instead, he confirmed the neighbourhood they needed to go to.

Seven minutes later, Sam was leading them to a creole restaurant. He never been to this particular place before, but it happened that one of his old highscool friend opened it after the blip. Like so many people, this event changed their life and in her case, she went from being a firefighter to opening a restaurant. His sister, Sarah, has been the one to told him the news and he promised to go but with so many things happening at that time, he forgot about it. This night was the perfect excuse to see if the food was as good as his sister raved about.

Sam hadn’t been a public figure exactly but people who knew him before definitely also knew that he had been branded enemy of the state for a while. In the eyes of a lot of black people, it was a badge of honour considering what the US tended to do and how it treated its own citizen.

“ _Well, well, well, so this was our own Sam Wilson after all_ ” a voice Sam hadn’t heard in more than twenty years called as soon as they got inside.

“ _Amanda_ ” Sam smiled widely as the taller and slightly larger woman took him in her arms before making her twirl in her black suit with a satin red shirt. “ _Looking good, mh mh_ ” he complimented, truly happy to see her alive and living her dream.

“ _Never been better_ ” she answered back, eyes all over Sam in amusement “ _It’s been a hot minute, let’s have a quick chat, I have a table ready over there. Umh, your face seems familiar_ ,” she said to Steve, finally addressing him.

Sam looked at him being shy and overly polite “ _Oh Ma’am, you know, my face is quite bland, look like a lot of people_ ”

“ _Yeah, the perfect nobody, I’m sure_ ” she smiled, knowing perfectly well who was who as if Steve’s face wasn’t one of the most recognizable in America, especially after the mess that had been the attempted marriage and, years ago, when he had been branded a traitor right next to Sam’s face. The marriage had made the headlines of every gossip corner for weeks, Captain America, bisexual and marrying Tony Stark? That had been a lot.

The thing was, Tony Stark was no stranger to controversy. He embraced it, he played with it, he did not care. At the end of the day, you could say anything you wanted about him, but you had to recognize that he was a genius Why would he care? It didn’t matter that his money mostly came from selling weapons, it didn’t matter that he had been caught once being sucked by the CEO of one of his concurrent, hell, it didn’t matter that he had generated so much hate in regular people that they turned into full blown costumed villains. Tony had been a hot topic since his teenage years, he knew how to play the game very well.

Tony and Steve sure shared that about them, being under scrutiny and wanting to say “fuck off” to everyone.

The difference was that people attacked Steve on his political positions or his missions. It wasn’t about Steve Rogers the person and more about Captain America the symbol. Therefore, his “coming out” was a change in the type of attacks he had to endure.

It also sparked quite the revisionism of his past and his relationships. Suddenly, he wasn’t bisexual, he was gay and Peggy had been a beard. People were adamant that Bucky and him had been in a romantic relationship, no matter what he said. Even local villains had something to comment about it, it ended up with a fist in their face.

By extension, some people started to question Sam’s sexuality too, which wasn’t exactly a secret before anyway. Luckily for him, if you could call that being lucky, people tended to be way more imaginative and speculative when it came to white people, therefore, he had been mostly ignored in these conversations. Bucky, Clint, Thor…not so much.

It didn’t stop Amanda from looking at the two men and think that they would look good together. As they kept talking through the next hour, Amanda popped every now and then when she could escape her duties for a minute.

“ _So, what’s the plan for the rest of this night out, boys?_ ” she asked, seeing Steve finish his coconut sorbet, this man could eat!

“ _Oh, uh, I guess we will go back_ ” he answered with some disappointment.

She shared a look with Sam who rolled his eyes.

“ _Well, I know a place, real nice and intimate, perfect to pick up some nice ladies…or not_ ”

They all knew this was a not so subtle attempt at confirming what was going on but Sam could play dumb really well and feigned ignorance “ _Is that so? Nice like you or nice like…_ ”

“ _I’m not that nice Wilson_ ” she teased back, not taking the flirt seriously at all, unlike Steve who observed the pair like a hawk ready to attack. If Amanda had no idea if Sam was interested in Steve in more than a friendly manner, she started to have doubts about Steve.

“ _I’ll take your word for it. This was truly delicious Mindy, but we should go_ ”

Sam wanted to pay and Amanda refused at first so he had to insist, especially since Steve tried to sneak some money of his own during the conversation. After another ten minute, the pair walked out of the restaurant in direction of Steve’s bike.

The way back to the facility felt like it only took a few minutes. Once they arrived at the parking, the air was thicker between them.

“ _So?_ ” Steve finally asked.

“ _So…what?_ ”

“ _Well, you know_ ” he gestured with his arm in a movement that could mean anything.

Sam arched an eyebrow “ _I don’t_ ”

“ _Jesus, Sam, come on_ ”

“ _Express yourself_ ” Sam answered as if this was the easiest thing to do. By the look of insolence in Steve’s eye, he didn’t appreciate the advice.

“ _What was the point of this?_ ”

“ _You tell me, you are the one who said yes when I asked you out_ ”

Oh, this wasn’t turning in the right direction at all.

“ _Would you have preferred for me to say no?_ ”

Sam sighted, slowly walking toward the parking’s exit “ _I prefer nothing Steve, you acted like everything was simple and I just had to ask you on a date. I did. You said yes, we went on a date, the end_ ”

“ _So this was only to prove a point for you?_ ” Steve tried to clarify, his tone revealing a quickly rising annoyance.

“ _Oh please, as if you didn’t said yes for the exact same reason_ ”

Steve blinked, shutting his mouth before something could come out. He nodded his head as if he reached a conclusion in his own head and walked away quickly disappearing inside the elevator.

Sam stayed there a minute or two then took the same direction. He felt dumb but unable to channel his frustration in a constructive way. There was no way he would think about it later and not cringe at himself. They had such a good time together, so why did it have to end up like this? Why couldn’t he had just wished Steve goodnight and leave it at that? Why did he had to act like all of his emotional maturity suddenly vanished. He wasn’t a dumb kid anymore, and yet he went back to his most annoying self just so he could beat Steve at his own game. This wasn’t how you did thing and he was growing tired of himself. He hesitated to stop on Steve’s floor to say he was sorry but changed his mind and went back to his place.

Back against the door, he banged his head three time against it, not enough to hurt but just enough to feel it.

He had no idea for how long he had been staying like this when someone knocked on the door. Without checking first, he opened to see Steve there, only lacking his vest from the last time they saw each other. His face was cold and his chin high when he asked, “ _Do you love me, Sam?_ ”

He could feel all the answers his bad side could provide, all the snark that led him to nowhere and bit it back, opting for a less confrontational approach “ _Yes_ ”

“ _Then why do you act like that? Why couldn’t just talk to me? Why…_ ”

Sam brought him inside and in the same movement, closed the door behind him, put a hand on his waist and kissed him. It was clear that Steve was hesitant for the first couple of seconds before answering the kiss cautiously. He knew better than considering this any kind of valuable way to solve their issue but since holding back did not work out well for him, Sam believed he needed a change. It wasn’t the first kiss Sam had imagined. He was disappointed in himself, disappointed in this kiss.

“ _I’m sorry_ ” Sam said “ _the truth is that I never thought I had a chance with you, hell, I wasn’t even sure you liked men since all I saw was Peggy and then Sharon_ ”

“ _This isn’t about me reciprocating your feelings or not Sam_ ,” Steve started to explain in frustration, putting some distance between them “ _You left, Sam, the whole planet. We are a team, we are friends, we saved each other life again and again, and you just left. You couldn’t even bother to tell to my face that something was wrong. You didn’t trust me_ ”

They were running in circle, this conversation taking the same direction it did at Darlene’s house except Steve was tired and wanted things to change now.

“ _You know when I realized that your feelings for me weren’t only friendship? When I asked you and Bucky to be my best men. I looked in your eyes, there was so much anger, and darkness just for a second, I never saw you like this. I never saw that side of you Sam_ ”

Steve lost himself in his thought for a moment before looking right back at Sam again “ _A part of me wanted you to say something, anything, but you didn’t. When Bucky showed me the message you sent him, I was furious, you have no idea Sam, I thought, well, if he doesn’t want to be in my life, fuck him. Damn, I was a mess. Everyone thought it was because of Tony, it wasn’t_ ” He stopped, apparently needing to keep his emotions in check but his disappointment was as clear as water “ _And you came, screamed that you loved me, and ran away_ ” he added in a breath, a tear made of pure frustration running down his cheek. “ _I know feelings are what they are, that we can’t control them, but damn it, Sam, you were right next to me all this time and I wish it hadn’t take this wedding for me to realize that; Maybe it’s not fair, but if you had told me…_ ”

“ _Don’t, Steve, don’t you dare…_ ”

Lips were on Sam’s right there, a body hotter than any he ever touched under his fingers. That kiss got Sam’s heart in his throat. Compared with the previous one, it was day and night. Maybe it was presumptuous, but in Sam’s opinion, this kiss was telling Sam that he was wanted. It was possible Steve just kissed like that, like he wanted you all for himself.

“ _I hate that it took me so long to feels this Sam, and that I’m blaming you for not speaking up. I don’t know how to make this, us, better. I know this is my fault too but I’m still bitter, like I wasted too much time already_ ”

Maybe that conversation would work better if Steve wasn’t making Sam loose his mind, hands starting to touch his skin directly underneath his shirt, words spoken in his neck soon replaced by a tongue. He wanted to get Steve off him so he could think more clearly and yet, here he was, taking this man tee shirt away and grabbing his ass with a possessive hand.

“ _We shouldn’t_ ” he managed to say, gulping as teeth sunk playfully into his shoulder and Steve’s tight went right between his, pressing against his already hard cock.

Steve stopped, making sure to have eye contact “ _Do you want to stop?_ ”

“ _No_ ” Sam admitted, even if he still thought that they shouldn’t be doing this, that this was a bad idea because yeah okay, Steve was attracted to Sam, but…

Sam’s mind went blank as Steve opened his pants. A darker wet spot could be seen on his yellow boxer. Steve brushed his thumb against it with assurance before pulling the underwear down enough for Sam’s cock to be revealed.

The last thing Sam expected from this pseudo date was Steve on his knees, licking and sucking his dick with reverence. This was crazy, totally and utterly crazy, but he wanted it bad.

It wasn’t about sex, Sam thought as he brought Steve in the bedroom and got him naked, making him arch and moan like he never saw him did before, so even if it started in a chaotic way, he forced Steve to change the pacing. Sam didn’t want a quick fuck to get it out of their system, he wanted to be in a romantic relationship with Steve, he wanted him to know what it would be like to make love together.

Maybe he succeeded, if the way Steve was stroking his head tenderly while Sam was rolling his hips inside of him was any indication. There was no more words between them, just the dance of two bodies meeting in the middle of their shaken certitudes.

In Sam’s opinion, what spoke volume was Steve opening the door or the bedroom after they both took a shower. Sam had expected him to leave but he asked if he could stay here tonight instead. They had shared bed before but nothing like this, with Steve being the big spoon and holding him in a position that couldn’t be comfortable at all.

“ _Please don’t leave me again_ ” Steve whispered, “ _If you want me to give you space, if you want to be just friends, I’ll do it but please, don’t run away again_ ”

This was a promise Sam wanted to keep but was he strong enough? If the door they just opened turned out to make everything worse, what would he do? Steve had been right, they were friends and Sam trusted Steve with his life already, why not why his heart too? As an answer, he brought Steve’s hand to his lips and gave it a hopeful kiss.


End file.
